How to look after Ferrets by Laura Downes

An introduction to keeping ferrets

Introduction

Despite their poor reputation, ferrets are vastly entertaining, affectionate and make wonderful pets. They come in a range of colours, such as albino, sable and champagne and live on average for six to 12 years.

The popular belief that ferrets are rodents is a misconception; in fact, they are members of the mustalidae family, which also contains weasels, otters, badgers, and minks. Ferrets have the loyalty of dogs and playfulness of cats; they are surprisingly clean and perfectly docile if properly cared for.

Choosing your ferret

Ferrets are very sociable and should be raised in groups of a least two unless you plan to spend long periods of time amusing your ferret. They also live quite happily in a larger community if introduced to each other early enough. Baby ferrets (or kits) can be collected from eight weeks old if they have been weaned. It´s always a good idea to see the mother with the kits ensure that they have been handled regularly.

Buying from the same litter means you won’t have to go through a supervised introduction period, although remember that brothers and sisters are still male and female and have no respect for the sanctity of family! Both males (hobs) and females (jills) can live together as single sex groups, although if they are not from the same litter introducing older hobs can be tricky as they can be aggressive in their attempts to assert dominance.

The hobs are typically two to three times larger than the jills when fully grown; they become adults at around 9-12 months. Hobs can occasionally be strong-smelling as they release a defence liquid from their scent glands if threatened, although this shouldn’t happen very often!

Housing

If you house your ferrets outside, the hutch should be in a draught-free place out of direct sunlight (ferrets can suffer from heatstroke). There should be a sleeping area, a separate toilet area and a large enough space to exercise and play. Ferrets are very clean and will go to the toilet in the corner furthest away from their bedroom. They are easily litter trained and a litter tray in the corner filled with clumping cat litter makes a perfect toilet. The soiled litter can then be scooped out and replaced at least once a day.

Ideally, your ferret should have ample room to play and this may mean giving them a run of an exercise pen, a shed or your house. Ferrets are excellent climbers and escape artists, plus they are very inquisitive and will always investigate anything thoroughly - be it locks on hutches, or the cables behind your television! Therefore any housing should be secure and mesh should be fine as they can squeeze through surprisingly small gaps. As youngsters they can be chewers, so they should be supervised if running loose at home unless they are in a ferret-proofed area.

Ferrets will typically sleep between 16 and 20 hours a day, and no matter how much room you give them they will all sleep in a heap so bedding can usually be sparse. Hay gets sweaty and stinking, so fabric bedding regularly washed is preferred although non-printed shredded paper may be used as a second choice.

Diet

A ferret’s main diet consists of meat. Typical feed is dead chicks, offal or mince; however many owners are switching to all-in-one dried nuggets consisting of the essential fats, protein and nutrients they need. The advantage of this type of food is hygiene - ferrets tend to hoard their food and raw meat can rapidly decompose and attract flies and maggots.

Supplementing their diet with occasional raw eggs, canned cat food, milk, cereals or yoghurt is fine as an occasional treat, but constantly switching foods won´t be good for your ferret’s tummy. Their faeces should be long, firm yet moist and an even brown colour - lumpy yellow or green faeces means an upset tummy so limiting dairy, giving dry food only or starving for up to 24 hours should resolve this. Like cats, ferrets are typically lactose intolerant and so giving them special cat milk as a treat is gentler on their tummy. This milk is fairly rich however and so diluting it with half water will help ensure your ferret stays sleek.

Fresh water should always be on hand. They are perfectly capable of drinking from a gravity water bottle although they like to dunk their faces in their water for a wash so having a heavy bowl of water available instead of or as well as a bottle is ideal.

Play

Ferrets love to play and they will go through periods of intense play when awake. They like to climb, dig and tunnel and so thought should be given to their exercise environment. An enclosed plastic storage box with a small entry hole half-filled with fresh compost makes a fantastic ‘dirtbox’ for digging. Some old lengths of drainpipe, and an old pair of trousers make great tunnels and cat toys such as platform-style scratching posts fulfil their desire to climb and jump. Anything that rolls or squeaks will be enjoyed and regularly removing and replacing toys will keep things fresh and exciting.

Don´t forget though that what ferrets enjoy most is companionship. The only thing they enjoy more than playing with each other is playing with you. Being chased and tickled will keep them amused for ages and ensure they sleep well! Most ferrets will also enjoy a walk. You can buy ferret/rabbit harnesses at most large pet shops, but a small upside-down Halti type harness will also work.

Health

Ferrets are hardy little animals and they shouldn´t need too much grooming. They produce oils to keep their coats healthy and shiny, and to this end they shouldn´t need more than a couple of baths year. Your main regular activities will be to keep their ears clean and nails clipped. Their ears should be cleaned gently in the external region only using a cotton bud. Back claws will only need cutting once or twice a year at most, although their front claws will probably need regular clipping. A pair of ‘human’ nail clippers or small dog claw clippers will do the job.

Their claws are white and the quick (the vein in the claw) should be easily visible. Their claws should be cut well below this vein parallel to the floor rather than in a point. Ferrets are very wriggly and a second person makes these jobs much easier. Should you find it difficult to keep them steady the scruffing technique can be used. This involves gripping the loose flesh on their neck (the scruff) and suspending them without further support. Although this feels uncomfortable to us, they will find it perfectly natural as it is how their mothers carry them as young. Be gentle, however!

Unless you plan to breed with your ferrets it is strongly recommended that they are neutered and this can be carried out from age 6 to 7 months. The operation is now commonplace and as safe as general anaesthetics can be, and it should be available at your vet’s surgery. Jills are in season over the months of March to September and hormone production leaves them vulnerable to anaemia and infections, so neutering is the safest option.

Your ferrets should also be wormed annually and it´s usually easiest to use a syrup formulation and a syringe to do this. They should also be treated for fleas, mites and ticks regularly. Typically cat treatments are suitable for ferrets but treatment advice should be sought from your vet. The weaker mixtures available from pet shops will not be suitable. Frontline is a veterinary-obtained treatment used by the majority of ferret owners